Elliot Lake city council responds to mayor's removal

Business will continue without disruption despite a judge's ruling removing the mayor of Elliot Lake from office, the city says.

After Superior Court Justice Annalisa S. Rasaiah found Mayor Chris Patrie guilty of breaching the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act in a decision released Monday, he has been removed from office and disqualified from being a member of council or any local board for two years.

An Ontario Superior Court justice has directed the City Of Elliot Lake not to formally replace Chris Patrie as mayor until Patrie’s appeal is heard. (File photo)

The violations date to 2017-2019, when Patrie was a city councillor, and concern attempts to influence where a new $30-million sports centre should be built, including threats made to another member of council and pressuring city staff writing viability reports.

Because the judge's ruling came shortly before a scheduled city council meeting Monday night, the councillors decided to continue with the meeting chaired by the deputy mayor without Patrie, the city's chief administrative officer, Daniel Gagnon, told CTV News in an interview.

Despite the decision, the city said in a public notice posted on its website "there is no immediate need for the city to fill the vacancy."

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"Now, we are assembling some research to try to determine what this means for the City of Elliot Lake, the corporation and the community going forward," Gagnon said.

"We understand that Mr. Patrie still has rights. He may appeal the decision or seek a stay, which would allow him to return to the council table if that were to happen. So, we are not moving overly quickly to deal with the vacancy. We are taking our time to do some research and see if that plays out."

When contacted Patrie told CTV News his lawyer advised he is unable to do an interview at this time.

In his absence, Councillor Andrew Wannan will act as interim mayor.

Elliot Lake City Councillor Andrew Wannan is stepping in as acting mayor after a judge removed Chris Patrie from his seat following a breach of conflict of interest. (Supplied)

"Council and administration are committed to ensuring that the business of the city will continue to move forward without disruption during this interim period," the city said.

Gagnon said if Patrie chooses to not appeal the ruling or seek a stay, council has two options to fill the mayor's seat.

"Eventually, council, the six remaining councillors, will have to determine if there is a vacancy, how to fill that vacancy and under the municipal act, council has two options: either a by-election or an appointment process," Gagnon said.

If the council chooses to appoint someone, it is not required to appoint from the list of candidates from the past election, which was held in October 2022.